Photo Guide to the Royal Barge Procession

A spectacular procession of royal barges will be on show in Bangkok  on 9th November 2012, as part of the Royal Kathin Ceremony. Representing His Majesty the King, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will preside over the ceremony at Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, in Bangkok. He will travel to the temple in a royal barge procession along the Chao Phraya River. The procession consists of 52 traditional style barges arranged in five columns, based on battle formation from ancient times. This is made up of four major royal barges, eight barges with animal figureheads and 40 smaller vessels. The five-column flotilla stretches 1,200 meters in length and 90 across. A total of 2,311 sailors serve as oarsmen.

PHOTO GALLERY 01: Royal Barge Procession >>>
PHOTO GALLERY 02: Behind the Scenes in the Navy Dockyard >>>

The bow of the Royal Barge Suphannahong is made into a head of a Royal Swan or Hamsa, painted with gold lacquer and richly decorated with glass ornaments.

The Royal Barge Narai Song Suban H.M. King Rama IX has a figurehead of the god Narai with four arms bearing a trident, a scepter, a discus, and a conch shell on his celestial transport, a Garuda.

The bow of the Royal Barge Anantananakkharat is made into the seven heads of a Naga, gold-lacquered and richly decorated with glass ornaments.

The graceful prow of the Royal Barge Anekkachatphuchong is intricately carved and gilded in a delicate pattern of small Naga figures.

Ekachai Hern How Barge and Ekachai Lao Thong Barge are Reua Ku Chak to lead and tow the Royal Barge Suphannahong in case it demands extra driving power. Both barges are gold-lacquered with the tapering column figureheads of a cross between a crocodile and Naga known as Hera.

Krut Hern Het and Krut Tret Traichak are Garuda barges with a painted and gilded figurehead of a Garuda holding a Naga, one in each of his hands and feet. A red body is Krut Hern Het and a pink body is Krut Tret Traichak.

Pali Rang Thawip and Sukrip Khrong Mueang are Krabi Barges with crown figureheads of Monkey Warlords, carved and gilded with a green body of Pali and a red body of Sukrip, respectively.

Krabi Ran Ron Rap and Krabi Prao Mueang Man are Krabi Barges with uncrowned figureheads of Monkey Warriors, carved and gilded with a black body of Nilaphat and a white body of Hanuman, respectively.

Asura Vayuphak and Asura Paksi are Asura Barges with carved and gilded figureheads of Ogre-faced birds. Asura Vayuphak’s face, hands and feet are indigo in colour with a purple coat. Asura Paksi’s face, hand and feet are green in colour with a coat of a purple front and green back.

Seua Thayan Chon and Seua Kamron Sin are tiger barges of the Reua Phiket class. The hull is ungilded but painted in the colour and style of a tiger’s body and with a tiger’s head painted on the bow.

Map of where to watch the Royal Barge Procession >>>

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Watching the Rehearsals for the Royal Barge Procession

If you are in Thailand at the moment then you are in for a treat. During October 2012 they are conducting a series of rehearsals for the Royal Barge Procession along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. I took these pictures during the rehearsal last Friday. There will be three more this month on 19th, 25th and 29th October. There will then be two full dress rehearsals on 2nd and 6th November. The real event is then on 9th November. If you want to watch, then you are advised to attend one of the rehearsals as it will be very crowded on the final day. Click here to see my map of places to watch the procession.

Once you have found a place to watch, you need to make sure that you can be there before they close the river down. After 11 a.m., you won’t be able to cross the river by boat. In fact, you won’t even be allowed to stand on any of the public piers. They also stop the Chao Phraya Expres boats. They are very strict about this. So, don’t get the idea of watching the procession from a boat. The picture above shows some of the security forces that patrol the river all day between Rama VIII Bridge and Wat Arun. I took this picture at about 1 p.m.

The reason that they close the river so early is that the barges have to be towed up river to the starting point beyond Rama VIII Bridge. This has to be done slowly as these boats are very old and are national treasures. I have been on the river before when the express boats pass and they do produce quite a high wake. There would be a danger of one of these boats getting swamped and sinking. They start towing shortly after the river closes at 11:00 a.m. I spotted the last boat passing the bridge at about 2 p.m.

The smaller boats were already moored at the pier near Wat Racha at Soi Samsen 9. These are towed upriver straight away after the rehearsals have finished. Only these more beautiful boats were being towed upriver on the day of the rehearsal. I presume this is because they are stored at the Royal Barge Museum while not being used. My first set of pictures were taken at Rama VIII Bridge. I could see that all of the boats were waiting between Wat Racha and the bridge. Some of the sailors had been on the boat all day and speedboats were going up and down doing toilet runs.

The procession then started at about 3 p.m. Everything was synchronised in order to make sure that all of the boats kept in their correct positions. Each boat had flagmen to help with this. As they rowed, royal boat songs were played over loudspeakers with the oarsmen joining in with the chorus. There are 52 boats taking part in the procession. Out of these, there are eight animal masthead barges like the one above, 22 lesser escort barges, and 18 other vessels. In total, 2,200 oarsmen take part in the procession.

I am told that the journey to Wat Arun, commonly known as the Temple of Dawn, takes nearly an hour. There are a number of vantage points along the river where you can watch the procession. For example, at the riverside park for Phra Sumen Fortress. I took most of my pictures from Praya Palazzo Boutique Hotel which is directly opposite the fort. The smaller vessels past us so close that we could almost reach out and touch them. However, the more beautiful barges with animal mastheads kept to the middle of the river.

The last royal barge passed us at 3:30 p.m. and so that means it took only 30 minutes. You would think that they would then re-open the river but they didn’t do this until about 6 p.m. This is because the last boat wouldn’t have reached Wat Arun until about 4:30 p.m. and then they had to be towed back upriver to Wat Racha. Like I said before, I presume the animal masthead barges were towed to the nearby Royal Barge Museum. I am planning on going to another rehearsal and hopefully will have some more information for you.

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Full Schedule for Royal Barge Procession Rehearsals 2012

The Thai Navy has started the royal barge procession rehearsals for the royal kathin ceremony which will take place on 9th November 2012. The procession will start from Rama VIII Bridge (Vasukri Pier) and go down the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun Ratchawararam, or Temple of Dawn, in the ceremony marking the end of Buddhist Lent. The procession will take place between 3pm and 5pm on 9th November. A fleet of 52 traditional barges and 2,200 oarsmen will participate in the procession. Eight small rehearsals will be carried out from 21st September to 29th October and two grand rehearsals on 2nd November and 6th November.

FULL SCHEDULE OF REHEARSALS:

1. Friday, September 21, 2012
2. Thursday 27 September, 2012
3. Thursday, October 4, 2012
4. Monday 8 October 2012
5. Friday, October 12, 2012
6. Friday, October 19, 2012
7. Thursday, October 25, 2012
8. Monday, October 29, 2012
9. Friday 2 November 2012 (Dress Rehearsal)
10. Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (Dress Rehearsal)
11. Friday, November 9, 2012 (Final Event)